1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel compound having CaSR agonist activity, and a food composition containing the novel compound as well as a kokumi-imparting composition.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In recent years, consumers' demands on taste and palatability of foods has increased due to, for instance, the diversification of human eating habits, and this correspondingly results in an increase in the need for the development of an excellent kokumi-imparting agents and compositions, which can impart “kokumi” to various foods. In this respect, the kokumi cannot be expressed simply in terms of the five basic tastes, i.e., sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and the taste called “UMAMI”, because the taste and palate are reinforced even in the marginal tastes, which relate to the foregoing five basic tastes, but include such characteristics such as the thickness, growth (mouthfullness), continuity, and harmony, in addition to the foregoing five basic tastes.
The “calcium sensing receptor” (CaSR) can also be referred to as the “calcium receptor”, and the signals emitted from the calcium sensing receptor can control a variety of functions within a living body and the substances having such a CaSR agonist activity can thus be used and incorporated into foods or the like as a kokumi-imparting agent (see, Pamphlet of the Published International Patent No. 2007/055393 and The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2010, 285 (2), pp. 1016-22).
In addition, glutathione has been known, for a long time, as a compound having a kokumi-imparting activity. However, glutathione contains cysteine, which includes a sulfur atom and therefore, glutathione suffers from a number of problems that must be overcome and include for instance, a lack of stability and the emission of a sour smell.
Accordingly, compounds having a CaSR agonist activity have been sought after and researched, so to find a substance which has a more excellent kokumi-imparting function, in particular, an initial taste type kokumi-imparting function, which is also highly stability and can easily be produced at a low cost. Such compounds, can compositions containing one or more of these compounds are desired to impart kokumi to various foods.